1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water reforming method and a water reformer.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Water is a compound of hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) combined in the ratio of 2:1. The covalent bonding energy that binds hydrogen with oxygen is so strong that the hydrogen and oxygen will not readily separate from each other. Accordingly, hydrogen cannot normally exist alone in water. Hydrogen is the lightest gas in space. Therefore, even if it is dissolved in water, hydrogen readily escapes into the atmosphere. From this fact, it can be said that almost all water found on the earth is hydrogen-poor water (from which hydrogen has disappeared).
The most recent biomedical research has revealed that active oxygen is implicated in various diseases and aging. It is therefore necessary to take measures to suppress or eliminate disorder (oxidative damage) caused by active oxygen. It goes without saying that the best countermeasure against oxidative damage is reduction process from the theoretical point of view. The term “reduction process” can be said to have been originally given to the action of hydrogen atoms. This will be clear from the statement in junior high school science textbooks that “oxidation is combining with oxygen, and reduction is combining with hydrogen or removal of oxygen”.
It may be surmised from the above-described hydrogen-poor water (water from which hydrogen has disappeared) that the greatest reason why mankind has been suffering from various diseases is that we have been drinking hydrogen-poor water, that is, water incompetent to suppress or eliminate oxidative damage by active oxygen. In other words, hydrogen-poor water may be said to be “disease-causing water”.
Meanwhile, water containing an abundance of hydrogen (hydrogen-rich water) is expected to be necessary as more effective water for preventing and curing diseases. Hydrogen is found in two forms: atomic hydrogen and molecular hydrogen. Atomic hydrogen has a very short lifetime (its half-life is considered to be about ⅓ second). Accordingly, drinking of water containing an abundance of atomic hydrogen is practically impossible. The lifetime of molecular hydrogen, which consists of two hydrogen atoms, is considered to be about 1,000 seconds (10-odd minutes). Therefore, a practically effective way is to drink water in which an abundance of molecular hydrogen is dissolved.
It is surmised that molecular hydrogen taken up by our body is split into atomic hydrogen having very strong reducing power (hence also known as “active hydrogen”)by hydrogenases (i.e. enzymes that split molecular hydrogen into atomic hydrogen) in the body, and that the active hydrogen suppresses and eliminates, by its reducing action, oxidative damage by active oxygen in the body.
Natural water that is said to contain an abundance of hydrogen is found at various places in the world. Examples of such natural water are “Lourdes water” (France), “Tlacote water” (Mexico), and “Nordenau water” (Germany). These are attracting worldwide attention as miraculous healing water that can cure all kinds of diseases. It is said that anyone can cure diseases simply by drinking the healing water.
Under these circumstances, the present inventor (Hayashi) has conducted exhaustive research for many years to artificially produce miraculous healing water capable of curing, all kinds of diseases, and has already filed the following four applications for patent as inventions having the same object.    (1) Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) No. 2002-336877:    “An active hydrogen water producing apparatus having a container that is provided with windows for water to come in and out of the container and that has magnesium metal sealed therein.”    (2) Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) No. 2004-41949:    “A hydrogen-rich water generating method wherein drinking water and magnesium particles are allowed to react with each other to generate hydrogen gas, thereby changing the drinking water into hydrogen-rich water containing an abundance of hydrogen.”    “A hydrogen-rich water generating method wherein drinking water is allowed to react with silver particles, together with magnesium particles, so that hydrogen-rich water is purified by the silver particles.”    “A hydrogen-rich water generator having a casing that can be immersed in a drinking water bottle and that allows the drinking water to enter it, and a water-permeable bag put in the casing and filled with magnesium particles that react with the drinking water to generate hydrogen gas.”    (3) Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) No. 2004-243151:    “A hydrogen-dissolved water producing device including a hydrogen-generating material (metallic magnesium) that generates hydrogen gas through a catalytic reaction with drinking water, and a cover member having in its interior space an accommodating section capable of accommodating the hydrogen-generating material, wherein the covering member is formed to allow the drinking water to flow in and out of it, and the hydrogen-generating material is accommodated in the accommodating section.”    (4) Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) No. 2005-161209:    “A hydrogen-rich water generating method and generator wherein drinking water and magnesium particles accommodated in a water-permeable ceramic casing are allowed to react with each other in a container to generate hydrogen gas, thereby changing the drinking water into hydrogen-rich water containing an abundance of hydrogen.”
In the above-described inventions, magnesium particles are accommodated in a cartridge made of a synthetic resin and provided with a plurality of water passing holes, and the casing is immersed in raw water in a drinking water container, thereby generating hydrogen gas to produce hydrogen-rich water. It is intended to erase active oxygen from our body by drinking the hydrogen-rich water, thereby eliminating causes of various diseases. The amount of hydrogen gas generated per unit time, however, is very small, which is a problem to be solved.
The above-described Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) No. 2005-161209 mentions using as a cartridge a ceramic casing that allows water to penetrate therethrough into the interior thereof. In this regard, the following has been pointed out. If the ceramic cartridge is an unglazed product, water can penetrate therethrough, and hydrogen gas can be generated in the cartridge, but much time is needed for the hydrogen gas to flow out of the cartridge and to dissolve in the raw water in the container. In addition, the ceramic cartridge is heavy in weight and easily breakable upon falling. Thus, the invention disclosed in the above-described publication lacks practical applicability and has not yet been carried out.
It should be noted that the present inventor (Hayashi) got the idea of hydrogen-rich water originally from studies about electrolyzed water (reduced water), and the present invention makes it no longer necessary to use an electrolyzer, which has been conventionally required to produce hydrogen-rich water.
Examples of electrolyzed water producing method include Japanese Patent Nos. 2611080, 2615308 and 2623204. The present inventor (Hayashi) has found, however, that hydrogen water produced by these electrolytic processes is defective. That is, because hydrogen is the lightest substance in space, even if dissolved in water, hydrogen gas all escapes from the water within only several minutes, resulting in hydrogen water returning to ordinary tap water (hydrogen-poor water).
Consequently, it has become necessary for the present inventor (Hayashi), who has published many books and theses on electrolyzed water, to change his point of view entirely.